Means for waving hair



R. L. EVANS ET AL MEANS FOR WAVING HAIR March 28, 1939.

Filed July 5,, 19 34 \4 Flexz Patented Mar. 1939 UNIT D STATES MEANS FORwsvmo min Ralph L. Evans, New York, and Everett G.

McDonough, Mount Vernon, N. Y., assignors to Zotos Corporation, NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 5, 1934, SerialNo. 733,158

18 Claims.

- Our invention relates to the art oi producing a so-called "permanentwave" in hair, and particularly to devices employed as absorbents duringthe process of imparting such a wave.

In the treatment of hair, it is usual to surround a preformed tress witha wrapper, consisting of an absorbent material alone or combined with apaper or parchment sheet and/or a toll sheet.

The absorbents heretofore used in the construction of the difierentcommercial forms of wrappers have usually been either cotton flannel orfelt, but in their natural state these materials absorb solutions orwater slowly and must be specially treated-to increase the rate ofabsorption; their capacity is small so that they must be relativelythick and they do not readily give up their moisture when pressed;moreover, their use has the economic disadvantage of being expensive andmany attempts have been made to find a,

cheaper substitute.

To this end, blotting paper has beenv tried but as an absorbing agent ithas not been successful due to its low absorptive capacity,retentiveness of moisture or solution absorbed, or its non-plia bilityand difilculty of handling.

We have found that by taking two or more sheets of thin easily-wettedpaper and by maintaining them in close contact, either mechanically,adhesively or otherwise, we can obtain an absorbent whose waterabsorbing capacity is materially increased over that of the individualsheets and can be varied widely by varying the number of sheets ofpaperused, or by varying the charac ter of the paper itself or both.This absorbent readily takes up water' or a solution and easily gives itup when slightly pressed or squeezed. It is very pliable and quite easyto handle.

Our invention utilizes not only the natural abthe absorbing capacity dueto capillary forcesis. a 7

function of the total areaof the surtacesinvolved, our inventioniurther'contemplates increasing this capacity without increasing thesize of the sheets by increasing the actual surfacearea per unitover-all area of the sheet as by crimping or creping or by formingindentations, pockets, or corrugations in the surfaces, which has. theadditional eflect, due to overlapping 01 may be advantageously employedbut we have found the so called crepe paper, with its many small crimpsand creases held together by whipcord embossing, to be particularlyeflicient, for

the crimps and creases form pockets which'hold water or solutionadditional to that held by the fibers and by capillary attraction. Suchpockets Our absorbent, consisting of two or more thin paper sheets, heldtogether in the manner above indicated, maybe usedas the absorbent unitwithout further addition but to render it more durable, preventstretching, particularly when' wet and to facilitate handling, we preferto reinforce it with a material imparting body strength thereto. We havefound that pliable sheets of parchment, paper, foil, Cellophane,cloth,glassine and similar thin flexible materials, possessing adequatetensile strength, are well suited to this purpose. These sheets may beperforated, if desired, and may be attached to the absorbent in anysuitable manner, as by any of the means indicated above for attachingthe multiple sheets together, but we prefer to use a backing sheetattached by an all-over glue application sinceit forms an excellentbond, firm and of neat appearance.

Theabove indicatedcharacteristics of our invention pre-eminently fit itfor use in pads. employed in the process of giving a permanent wave tohair, both by the machine and by the machineless methods, and makepossible the simplification of pad structures by the elimination of theextra flap which may be employed to cover flannel or felt absorbentsheretofore used.

Other novel features and advantages of our invention will hereinafterappear.

Without limiting our invention or claims thereto, the accompanyingdrawing, shows for purposes of exemplification, certain specialembodiments of the invention:

Fig. 1 is an inside plan view, with parts broken away, or a pad designedto give a Croquignole wave'by the so machine meth- 0d". l'igflisasimilarview of apaddealgnedtogiv a spiral wave by the samemethod.

Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views of pads designed to give a Croquignoleand a spiral wave, respectively, by these called "machineless method".

Fig. 5 is across section of my absorbent, taken on line 5-8 of Fig. 1,with the sheets constituting it shown separated for clearness ofillustration and the protecting sheet I omitted.

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing a modified form of sheet.

Referring to Fig. 1 there is shown a pad I, designed for Croquignolewaving by the machine method, comprising an absorbent 2 and a heatconducting or protectingsheet l, conveniently of foil, which if desiredmay be provided with perforations 4 to permit therelease of steam. Thefoil sheet is attached to the upper edge of the absorbent Z by anysuitable fastening means such as staples I. v

The absorbent material is shown in Fig. 5 as comprising six sheets ofthin absorbent paper, provided with apreferably flat backing I of somepliable reinforcing material such as parchment or the like, havingcohesive or tensile strength, the several sheets and backing being hereshown as held together by the interlocking effect resulting from anembossing pressure applied against the sheets on the lines I. Thispressure results in a permanent compression of the sheets along thelines I between which are the looser-pad or cushion-like portions 9facilitating the absorption and retention of a fluid but readilyyielding it when w squeezed or pressed. We have shown whipcord embossingbut any other desired conformation may be given the surfaces or, ashereinbefore indicated, the sheets may be held together in any othersuitable way.

While sheets of plain paper if sufllciently absorbent may be used, weprefer to use crepe paper or paper having similar characteristicsbecause of its greater actual surface area for the same size of sheetand its consequent great absorbing capacity.

Embossing through multiple sheets renders crepe paper more resistant tospreading out when wetted than a single sheet. Therefore, the backingsheet I being relatively flat, less yielding and less subject to wettingthan the embossed absorbent, also acts to prevent the latter fromexpanding or spreading out when wetted.

In Fig. 6 we have shown an absorbent made of paper; sheets 38 havingpockets 3! of special design impressed therein, the sheets contactingeach other at 40 and being provided with a backing H.

In Fig, 2 is shown a pad designed for spiral waving by the machinemethod. The pad comprises the absorbent I! attached by suitable means,such as staples 5, to a wrapper shown as composed of two sheets ll ofimpervious material,

. such as parchment or the like, conveniently formed by folding a singlesheet at the bottom. Between these sheets is preferably interposed aheat transmitting and protecting sheet of foil ll.

any suitable means such as glue, which also may be employed to securethe backing to the envelope.

Fig. 4 shows asimilar pad, designed for spiral waving, comprising awrapper II, conveniently formed of two sheets of parchment, or similarmaterial, folded from a single sheet, to which is attached the envelopecontaining exothermic material, shown as provided with the perforations,as in Fig. 3, a heat conducting extension ll conveniently of foil, andthe absorbent 32 conveniently attached at its upper edge between theenvelope and the wrapper.

In each of these forms it is seenthat the struc ture of our absorbentunit obviates the necessity of employing an additional cover sheet forthe absorbent as where flannel or felt is used.

It will be understood that many changes may be made in the forms andfeatures disclosed without departing from the spirit of our inventionand that certain features may sometimes be used to advantage without acorresponding use of other features.

We claim:

1. In a hair waving pad, an absorbent comprising superposed sheets ofpaper secured together by embossing and provided with a flat flexiblebacking.

2. In a hair waving pad, an absorbent comprising superposed sheets.ofpaper secured together by embossing.

3. In a hair waving pad, an absorbent comprising superposed sheets ofcrepe paper secured together by whipcord embossing and provided with areinforcing element.

4; In a hairwaving pad, an absorbent comprising superposed sheets ofcrepe paper secured together by whipcord embossing.

5. In a hair waving pad, an absorbent comprising superposed sheets ofpaper permanently attached together at a plurality of spaced points,.

providing free spaces therebetween capable of absorbing a solution orwater within and between their respective fibers and of absorbingfurther solution or water between the respective sheets by capillaryattraction.

6. In a hair waving pad, an absorbent comprising superposed sheets ofpaper having pockets impressed therein and having their surfaces securedin close contact with each other at points on the raised edges of saidpockets, said pockets being arranged in reversed positions in,corresponding portions of successive sheets.

7. In a hair waving pad, an absorbent comprising superposed sheets ofpaper having pockets impressed therein, the successive sheets beingarranged with respect to each other so that the pockets of one sheetwill not be occupied by the material forming the pocket in an adjacentsheet said sheets being permanently secured to each other at points onthe raised edges of said pockets.

8. A hair waving pad comprising an envelope containing exothermicmaterial, an absorbent composedof two or more superposed sheets ofabsorbent paper permanently attached'together 'at a plurality of spacedpoints providing free spaces therebetween and a backing possessingcohesive strength attached to said absorbent.

9. A hair waving pad comprising an envelope containing exothermicmaterial and an absorbent composed of two or more superposed sheets ofabsorbent paper permanently attached together at a plurality of spacedpoints providing free spaces therebetween attached to said envelope.

10. A hair waving pad comprising a protective sheet, an absorbentcomposed of two or more superposed sheets of absorbent paper permanentlyattached together at a plurality of spaced points providing free spacestherebetween and a backing possessing cohesive strength covering a freeface of said absorbent sheets and permanent- 1y attached thereto.

11. A pad for use in the permanent waving of hair having an absorbentcomposed of a plurality oi superposed sheets of absorbent materialpermanently attached together at a plurality of spaced points, withdefined areas therebetween adapted to accumulate a surplus of liquidwhen said absorbent is moistened. 7

12. The combination defined in claim -11, in

which one of said sheets is provided with a backing possessing cohesivestrength.

a 13. In a hair waving pad, an absorbent comprising superposed sheetsoi' paper attached to each other at a plurality oi! spaced points andprovided with a flexible backing secured to the entire surface of one ofsaid sheets.

14. In a hair waving pad, an absorbent comprising superposed sheets ofpaper permanently attached to each other at a plurality of spaced pointswith defined areas therebetween adapted to accumulate a surplus ofliquid when said absorbent is moistened.

15. In a hair ,waving pad, an absorbent comprising superposed sheets ofcrepe paper permanently attached to each other at a plurality of spacedpoints with defined areas therebetween adapted to accumulate a surplusof liquid when said absorbent is moistened.

16. In a hair waving pad, an absorbent comprising superposed sheets ofpaper having pockets impressed therein, said sheets being permanentlyattached to each other at a plurality ot'points on the raised edges ofsaid pockets.

17. In a hair waving pad, an absorbent comprising superposed sheets ofpaper permanently attached to each other at a plurality of spaced points.with defined areas therebetween adapted to accumulate a surplus ofliquid when said absorbent is moistened, said absorbent being providedwith a reinforcing element.

18. A hair waving pad including an absorbent comprising superposedlayers or paper capable of being wetted, and a backing sheet ofimpervious material attached thereto and substantially covering the areaof one side of said superposed sheets.

RALPH L. EVANS. EVERE'I'I G. McDONOUGH.

